“Today, the business volume of tourism equals or even surpasses that of oil exports, ‎food products or automobiles. Tourism has become one of the major players in ‎international commerce, and represents at the same time one of the main income ‎sources for many developing countries. This growth goes hand in hand with an ‎increasing diversification and competition among destinations.‎” – World Tourism Organization UNWTO

It is not surprising with the US media downplaying how the stock market and job growth has been growing under their nemesis, Donald Trump, they have seized to blaze headlines “Tourism to U.S. under Trump is down, costing $4.6B and 40,000 jobs” – NBC.

“Travel to the U.S. has been on the decline ever since President Donald Trump took office, and new data shows the slump translates to a cost of $4.6 billion in lost spending and 40,000 jobs.

“The latest data from the National Travel and Tourism Office shows a 3.3 percent drop in travel spending and a 4 percent decline in inbound travel.” See: https://www.nbcnews.com/business/travel/tourism-u-s-down-trump-took-office-costing-4-6-n840326

This shows how important tourism is.

Here, in the Cayman Islands, we are riding a boom, and Premier Alden McLaughlin has been quick to spot how the majority of our media have downplayed “his government’s” achievements, especially in this field.

A press release sent out by the Cayman Islands Tourism Association (CITA) yesterday (23) carried the sentence “Government officials learned of tourism’s private sector perspectives and concerns”. You can probably guess how that was displayed.

Further down in the release it says:

“We are very encouraged by the Deputy Premier’s receptiveness to our insights and recommendations and his thorough understanding of the issues.” stated CITA President, Theresa Leacock-Broderick. “The Deputy Premier is not shying away from any of the challenges and has facilitated our direct dialogue with other relevant Government officials. There is a notable and welcome spirit of communication and collaboration.”

And, Hon. Deputy Premier Moses Kirkconnell stated: “I am very pleased to have met with the Board of the Cayman Island Tourism Association to openly discuss tourism related issues and initiatives as the industry moves from strength to strength. The Ministry of Tourism values and supports collaboration with private sector partners and welcomes opportunities to meet with members on a timely basis, to address common goals and resolve challenges. Underlying those discussions, I am particularly keen to ensure that benefits derived from the industry’s growth positively impact businesses, stakeholders and the community at large. This is especially important given that air arrivals are consistently breaking records and surpassed 418,000 in 2017, which represents the highest stayover visitation in our Islands history.”

Compare that to Trump tourism bash: – NBC story continues –

“The downturn has also caused America to lose its spot as the world’s second-most popular destination for foreign travel, ceding to Spain. (France is in first place).

“International tourism to the U.S. began to wane after Trump took office, leading to a so-called Trump slump. Experts say that Trump’s proposed travel bans and anti-immigration language have had a negative impact on the U.S.’s attraction for foreign visitors, in addition to a weaker dollar and heightened security measures.

‘“It’s not a reach to say the rhetoric and policies of this administration are affecting sentiment around the world, creating antipathy toward the U.S. and affecting travel behavior,” Adam Sacks, the president of Tourism Economics, told The New York Times.”

What a difference.

Isn’t it good we don’t have to ban foreign visitors from countries we don’t particularly like. Even if we put Cayman First?

Cayman Tourism for me.